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I am slowly sorting and scanning my way through stacks of photographs and documents from the early years of the Waikiki Surf Club which are among my dad’s papers, and have another batch of 18 photos ready to go.
Here’s one of the classics–Surf legend Tom Blake, at the far left, presents the perpetual team trophy in the Diamond Head Paddleboard Championships to Waikiki Surf Club’s top finishers George Downing, Wally Froiseth, and Edward Whaley.
According to “Legendary Surfers” by Malcolm Gault-Williams: “Outside Duke Kahanamoku, the “Father of Modern Surfing,” no other single individual had more impact on surf riding in the first half of this century than did Thomas Edward Blake….”
And with all the talk today about widening Waikiki Beach, notice the wide stretch of sand stretching towards the Royal Hawaiian.
Click on the photo to see today’s full photo gallery.
Is that the late KSSK morning show man Akuhead Pupulu in one of the photos?
Let me know if you ever run across any pictures of “Zulu” (Gilbert Kauhi) as he is my wifes uncle and was a big time beachboy during the days.
Mahalo for all the history you share with everyone!
I soon will be posting some historic Pacific Island (Yap Islands) pictures that have never been seen before that I just inherited and I can’t wait to get this project going.
Way to go, Ian! What a treasure trove!
The following is from the LEGENDARY SURFERS chapter “Post World War II” at http://www.legendarysurfers.com/surf/legends/ls14.shtml#waikiki%20surf%20club%201947
No two ways about it, World War II had interrupted the lives of most everyone in the “civilized” world and, in the case of surfing, put a lot of things on hold. Following the war, however, there was resurgent interest in and some changes in how surfing was organized in its traditional early 20th Century capitol, Waikiki.
By the end of 1946, the two main original Waikiki surf clubs had changed considerably. The native Hui Nalu had limited its activities mostly to outrigger canoe racing. The haole-influenced Outrigger Canoe Club had become more of an exclusive prestige-type establishment, “with a wide range of social and athletic interests.” So, in 1947, the Waikiki Surf Club was formed for the same reasons that the other two had originally been put together. “Its purpose,” wrote surfing historian Ben Finney, “was to promote surfing as well as other Hawaiian water sports. It provided board lockers and clothes changing facilities near the beach, for anyone who could pay the small initiation fee and monthly dues.”
It was obvious that the Waikiki Surf Club filled a void, when, under the leadership of John Lind, it enrolled 600 members in three months — some of whom were California surfers that were just starting to come over to the Islands. “We had [island local] members like George Downing, Wally Froiseth, Russ Takaki,” recalled relocated California surfer Walter Hoffman. “The Outrigger was down the beach, at $200 per month — a rich guy’s club, very exclusive, you had to be voted in. Our club was for the regular guys who surfed, so it was a great place to meet everybody — where all the transplant Californians hung out.”
“The club was downstairs in the basement of this house… and consisted of some lockers, showers and a place to leave your board.” A local guy named Taka was club attendant around the time Walt Hoffman and Ted Crane first came over in 1948.
The Waikiki Surf Club was followed by other newer clubs and the ongoing health of the older ones, but much of the post-war growth of surfing at Waikiki was, undoubtedly, due to the existence of the Waikiki Surf Club. The club did more than just provide a place for surfers to hang and keep their gear close to the beach. The club also initiated and sponsored several surfing and watermen events that stimulated public interest and fostered competition. Among these were: the Diamond Head Surfboard Championships, the Molokai-Oahu Outrigger Canoe Race, the Makapu Bodysurfing Championships, and what was to become famous as not only the first big wave surfing contest, but the first truly international surf contest: the International Surfing Championships at Makaha.